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Kolchak: The Night Stalker
(1974 — 1975)
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KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER
60 Minute Drama
Supernatural

ORIGINAL TRANSMISSION
TV Movies: 1972 + 1973
Series: 1974 — 1975
Series: 2005

BROADCASTER
ABC

SEASONS / EPISODES
2 TV Movies
1 Season / 20 Episodes (1974 — 1975)
1 Season / 10 Episodes (2005)

One of the classic genre series, Kolchak started life as two TV movies (The Night Stalker / The Night Strangler) — both of which broke viewing records.

Darren McGavin starred as wise-cracking reporter Carl Kolchak whose mouth, and stories, always landed him in trouble. The average episode had him investigating a series of murders which would turn out to have a supernatural explanation.

ABC cancelled the show after just one season although, ironically, it would be one of Chris Carter's main inspirations for the biggest show of the 1990s, The X-Files.

Even more ironically, a mere three years after the demise of The X-Files, ABC revived Kolchak for a new generation in the form of Night Stalker, starring Stuart Townsend. The series was pulled from the schedules after just six episodes had aired, halfway through a two-part story. All ten episodes produced before the series was cancelled have since been released on DVD in the United States, along with PDF scripts to two unproduced episodes.
Script Books
Richard Matheson's Kolchak Scripts

Richard Matheson's Kolchak Scripts cover image
Edited by Mark Dawidziak
  • United States
  • Hardback
  • Gauntlet Press
  • 2003
Episode Scripts
The Night Stalker / The Night Strangler / The Night Killers
Notes
  • An extremely limited edition book which not only contains Richard Matheson's scripts to the two produced Kolchak TV movies, but also the script to what was originally intended to be a third TV movie, The Night Killers.
  • Mark Dawidziak is probably best known as the author of Night Stalking: A 20th Anniversary Kolchak Companion, a 1991 non-fiction guide to the original television series. A revised version was issued by Pomegranate Press in 1997 under the title Night Stalker: A 25th Anniversary Companion. He also penned the original novel Grave Secrets.
Novelisations
The Night Stalker

The Night Stalker cover image
by Jeff Rice
  • United States
  • Paperback
  • Pocket Books
  • 1973
Other Editions
The Kolchak Papers #1: The Night Stalker
United States / Paperback / Cinemaker Press / 1993

Kolchak: The Night Stalker
United States / Kindle eBook / Moonstone / 2012
Novelised TV Movie
The Night Stalker
Back Cover Blurb — Pocket Books
Four Gorgeous Girls, Their Bodies Drained Of Blood...

In Las Vegas, even the kinkiest crimes don't cause much stir. Everyone's used to it.

But now the women are lying in alleys, gutters, and parking lots — their bodies drained of blood!

"Fantastically marvellous...executed with equally marvellous realism."
— Richard Matheson, author of The Incredible Shrinking Man
Notes
  • Although this book should not strictly be included here, it is something of an exceptional case as the Night Stalker TV movie was based on the unpublished manuscript which was eventually released to tie in with the transmission on ABC.
  • The Night Stalker was also released as part of the Kolchak Papers: The Original Novels omnibus by Moonstone Books in 2007.
The Night Strangler

The Night Strangler cover image
by Jeff Rice
  • United States
  • Paperback
  • Pocket Books
  • 1974
Other Editions
Kolchak: The Night Strangler
United States / Kindle eBook / Moonstone / 2012
Novelised TV Movie
The Night Strangler
Back Cover Blurb — Pocket Books
A Belly Dance Of Death

Ethel Parker was a belly dancer. When Ethel Parker moved, men watched and wanted. But now Ethel Parker wasn't moving. She was lying in a Seattle alley with her neck crushed and blood drained — the victim of unnatural vengeance.

In the weeks to come, more young women would die the same way.

Unearthly terror had struck once more...and once more, reporter Carl Kolchak was on the scene.
Notes
Original Novels
The Kolchak Papers: Grave Secrets

Grave Secrets cover image
by Mark Dawidziak
  • United States
  • Paperback
  • Cinemaker Press
  • 1994
Notes
  • Grave Secrets was written by Mark Dawidziak, the author of Night Stalking: A 20th Anniversary Kolchak Companion (Image Publishing, 1991), the definitive reference work on the series.
Kolchak: The Night Stalker — A Black & Evil Truth

A Black and Evil Truth cover image
by CJ Henderson
  • United States
  • Paperback
  • Moonstone Books
  • 2007
Back Cover Blurb — Kindle Edition
Carl Kolchak was just your average reporter until one day he put two and two together and came up with evil. A reluctant paranormal investigator, Kolchak couldn't stop tripping over the unusual even if he wanted to. And for all of his efforts of seeking the truth, unemployment and ridicule have followed him like the plague.

Someone, or something, is tearing up people into little pieces in a small town in West Virginia. It's up to Kolchak to wade through the bloody-science jigsaw puzzle, while watching his back against an unseen foe. It's a cat and mouse game, as he battles a maelstorm of terror that everyone around him gets sucked into. No one is safe, not the police, the FBI, or that very attractive new woman in his life...

There is a dark and sinister truth that will be revealed to Kolchak as to why him... if he can only live long enough to put the last horrifying clues together!
Other Editions
Kolchak: The Night Stalker — A Black & Evil Truth
United States / Hardback / Moonstone / 2007

Kolchak: The Night Stalker — A Black and Evil Truth
United States / Kindle eBook / Moonstone / 2011
Kolchak: The Night Stalker — The Lost World

The Lost World cover image
by CJ Henderson
  • United States
  • Paperback
  • Moonstone
  • July 2012
Back Cover Blurb
After getting a serial killer to confess, Kolchak is offered an international assignment with massive coverage around the world. With fame and fortune finally within reach, Kolchak is ready to cover the story — until he's confronted by a mysterious monk who warns him that "the seventy-two must always be." What this means is not explained. But, before he knows it, Kolchak's dreams are invaded by unexplainable images that let him know every step he takes toward this story is bringing him closer to death!
Anthologies
Kolchak: The Night Stalker Chronicles

Kolchak: The Night Stalker Chronicles cover image
Various
  • United States
  • Paperback
  • Moonstone Books
  • 2005
Short Stories
What Every Coin Has — CJ Henderson
Don't Even Blink — Fred Van Lente
The Why of the Matter — PN Elrod
The Last Temptation of Kolchak — Steven Grant
The Ungrateful Dead — James Bates
The Source — Clay and Susan Griffin
Kolchak and the Cult Murders — Mike W Barr
The Night Talker — Stuart M Kaminsky
Shadows from the Screen — Richard Valley
Barrens — Chuck Dixon
Frost-Bitten — Mark Lieran-Young
Man or Monster — James Anthony Kuhoric
Interview with a Vampire? — Mark Dawidziak
It Came from Monkey Skull Creek by David Ulanski
What Monsters Do — Peter David
Accidental Invasion — Elaine Bergstrom
Genius Loci — Robert Weinberg
The Abominable Ice Man — Martin Powell
The Pretty Dead Girl — Brett Matthews
Wet Dog of Galveston — Jason Henderson
Kali's Final Cut — Adi Tantimedh
The Shadow that Shapes the Light — Ed Gorman and Richard Dean Starr
The Mirror Cracked — Lou Aguilar
The Shrug of Atlas — Joe Gentile
Searching for Cisa — Gary Phillips
Open House — Max Allan Collins
Notes
  • Moonstone are also the regular publisher of the ongoing Kolchak comic series.
  • All of the stories contained within The Night Stalker Chronicles anthology were later reprinted in Night Stalker Compendium, which also contained the complete contents of the Night Stalker Casebook.
Kolchak: The Night Stalker Casebook

Kolchak: The Night Stalker Casebook cover image
Various
  • United States
  • Paperback
  • Moonstone Books
  • 2007
Back Cover Blurb
Following the success of the Bram Stoker Award nominated Kolchak: The Night Stalker Chronicles, MOONSTONE proudly returns with this second volume of 17 brand-new chilling tales of horror from beyond...

Carl Kolchak was TV's first paranormal investigator, albeit a reluctant one.

He is a talented newspaper reporter who used to handle all the big stories, but whose reputation has taken a few hits, so now most view him as insane. He is also a relentless seeker of the truth, no matter how insane that "truth" may be. The fact that no one believes him, and that his stories never get printed, only fuels his desire to get to the heart of the matter, no matter what the cost. His boss is always on his case, and Kolchak's personality grates on everyone's nerves. In spite of that, his "everyman" qualities, as well as his wit and charm, keep us rooting for him every time.
Notes
Omnibus Editions
The Kolchak Papers: The Original Novels

The Original Novels cover image
by Jeff Rice
  • United States
  • Paperback
  • Moonstone Books
  • 2007
Notes
  • The Night Stalker and The Night Strangler were re-released individually by Moonstone in January 2012 for the Kindle eReader.
Kolchak: The Night Stalker Compendium

Compdendium cover image
by Various
  • United States
  • Hardback
  • Moonstone Books
  • 2011
Notes
  • A hardback compilation of the two Kolchak short story anthologies which were released by Moonstone in 2005 and 2007.